Since being involved with THA my reading list has been many and varied in and around the broad topic of democracy and the latest book I've just finished was 'On Anarchism' by Noam Chomsky.
Anarchy is the state of a society being freely constituted without
authorities or a governing body. It may also refer to a society or
group of people that totally rejects a set hierarchy.
The word anarchy was first used in 1539, meaning "an absence of
government".
Interestingly Chomsky points out all anarchists are socialists but not all socialists are anarchists!
The trouble for anarchists is that no nation has ever, to the best of my knowledge, been run according to this principle except very briefly in Spain, but then only in some areas, before the communists established their hierarchical controls over them.
Smaller structures like kibbutzes, in Israel especially in the early days, would have passed the test as 'communes' but realistically a nation needs a government.
The BIG issue then is whether the people have any real power over their government and the reality is that over time most, if not all, governments increase their powers and become more isolated from the people they serve.
In Comsky's book I was struck by this passage:-
"New revolutions must dissolve the government altogether or bring it closer to its legitimate institutions...The uprising that ends by strangling or dethroning a sultan is as lawful an act as those by which he disposed, the day before, of the lives and goods of his subject. Force alone maintained him, force alone overthrows him."
It should go without saying, but let me emphasis, that THA is not for strangling anyone or a state of anarchy! What we strongly advocate is peaceful resistance, in line with the thoughts of Gene Sharp, to bring about the reforms to our governance we demand. However, what I do take from the quote above is that it is totally legitimate for a people to take back power from their governments especially when the governments power is being increased, centralised and ultimately abused.
This is the key to THA - to give power back to the people for only by having real power can the people make their politicians their servants and not their masters.
Excellent Niall thank you and Noam Chomsky is always worth reading. I am just finishing "Living in the Long Emergency" by James Howard Kunstler who explains our current predicament very well and forecasts the outcome along the lines of my "Chapter 13 - The New Emergent Economy". Worth reading if only to prepare for the worst.
ReplyDeletehttps://kunstler.com/writings/clusterfuck-nation/
Also, I have lately finished "The Brothers" by Stephen Kinzer describing the rise and fall of the Dulles brothers and their secret world war. I shall move on next to "The Devil's Chessboard" By David Talbot which extends the work and life of the Dulles Brothers - the effects of which we continue to suffer today.
After this, I have a load of other books to follow up, not least of which is "The Madness of Crowds" which you have recommended!
Chat soon
Testing to see if I can comment. There is an assumption that people should have power over their government. This is rather like having a cart that pushes the horse. At first sight the idea of a servant government is a contradiction in terms - what exactly does it mean?
ReplyDeleteIt means:
Delete"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. That, to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. That, whenever any form of government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new government, laying its foundation on such principles, and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness."
Jefferson et al believed those things. Who believes them now? I might, but I get the impression that they are not self-evident.
DeleteNo the horse still pulls the cart but the driver really has proper control of it.
DeleteRead our six demands.
Britain would have to get rid of the LibLabConSNP regime abolish the absurdity of the House of Lords and Monarchy to really and truly become a democracy with a written constitution and out of the EU and not ride the coat tails of the USA anymore
ReplyDeleteRead our six demands.
Delete